Latest and Greatest from the Rio Olympics

While NBC hasn’t yet shown the Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics to America yet (7:30 p.m. ET), one spoiler we’re glad to know is that the ceremonies occurred without a security incident. Sochi and the Russian leadership have been scrutinized globally for shoddy infrastructure and perceived security lapses in the face of bold terror threats, but so far, so good.

That’s good news for the sponsors who have shelled out millions of dollars to be part of the Games, and many who do so every two years. It’s a good time to be an advertiser, but this year, it comes with a greater risk.

I’m sharing USA Today’s piece, “Olympic sponsors on edge before Winter Games,” but I think it’s important that the need for contingencies and crisis management should be emphasized in all communications campaigns, whether they involved a high-profile global event like the Olympics or a consumer product line launch. Things happen that we can neither predict nor control, but if we know there’s even the slightest possibility our best-laid plans could be derailed, why would we not prepare for it?

Often communications teams will want to push for these plans, but be spurned in the process. It doesn’t need to be a massive, written plan; in fact, it can’t be, as crisis response is an ongoing and living situation. But even the most skeletal of contingency plans is better than no plan at all.